Dozens of artisanal miners are feared trapped in a collapsed gold mine in central Ghana and some are believed already dead, authorities said on Monday as they battled to pull out victims.
“People have died and we believe there are many bodies down there,” said municipality chief Peter Owusu-Ashia, adding that as many as 100 miners were estimated to have entered the mine earlier in the day in the central town of Dunkwa-on-Offin.
Owusu-Ashia said rescue efforts were being hampered by flooding of the mine from an earlier downpour but that extra excavators and a water pump were being brought in.
The pit was an abandoned mine and the miners were working in informal gangs of around five men each. Artisanal mining is common across west and central Africa, a region of low formal employment but with abundant natural resources.
– Reuters